Murder suspect falls from ceiling while police search apartment

MANSFIELD - Mansfield police early Wednesday morning arrested a 23-year-old murder suspect after he fell through the ceiling of a Wood Street apartment during a search.

Deshawn A. Dowdell, 23, was served a murder warrant Wednesday relating to the April 8 shooting death of Terrence Travon Harris in the area of 1340 W. Fourth St. Dowdell is being held in the Richland County Jail on a $1 million cash and personal recognizance bond.

Property seized from 383 Wood St.(Photo: Submitted)

According to the police report, U.S. Marshals at 10:13 p.m. Tuesday contacted METRICH Enforcement Unit and said they had seen suspected drugs and cash in plain view inside an apartment at 383 Wood Street while serving an arrest warrant. After officers obtained a warrant, the apartment was searched. Evidence was collected and the cash was seized.

At 12:17 a.m. Wednesday, members of the U.S. Marshals Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force received a request for assistance from Mansfield police Major Crimes at 12:17 a.m. to assist in locating Dowdell on a warrant for murder, according to the police report.

Property seized Wednesday from 383 Wood St. by Mansfield police and U.S. marshals(Photo: Submitted)

U.S. Marshals returned to the apartment at 12:17 a.m. Wednesday to search for Dowdell, according to the report. No one would answer the door, but officers could hear a voice inside.

Officers entered the apartment and found an attic panel had been moved and insulation was falling from the hole. Officers called out for the man, while others maintained a perimeter around the building.

Officers on the south side of the building said they saw someone attempt to exit Apt. 8, but the person saw officers and closed the door quickly. They made contact with the resident, who said he thought someone was in the ceiling.

As task force officers entered the apartment, a man fell partially through the ceiling and pulled himself back up, only to fall through the ceiling again, this time falling through and onto a bed in Apt. 8.

Buy Photo

383 Wood Street(Photo: Jason J. Molyet/News Journal)

According to a Mansfield police report, the man refused to comply with officers' orders and was stunned with a Taser. The man, identified in the police report at Dowdell, was taken to OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital and evaluated before being transported to the jail.

Warrants were prepared for Dowdell and a request for additional charges was to be forwarded to the Richland County Prosecutor's Office.

When Dowdell was arrested, officers recovered more than a kilo of heroin and fentanyl, Mansfield police Chief Ken Coontz said Wednesday.

During the search, detectives seized approximately one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of suspected heroin/fentanyl, two handguns, $3,386, suspected drug presses, cutting agents and other assorted drug paraphernalia, according to a news release from Mansfield police.

A preliminary analysis of the suspected drugs indicated approximately 400 grams of heroin and 500 grams of fentanyl. The analysis was conducted by the Mansfield Division of Police Forensic Science Section, according to police.

On April 9, the News Journal reported that Mansfield police were investigating the drive-by shooting death of a 19-year-old man on April 8.

At that time, Coontz said police responded to an incident on West Fourth Street near Brookwood Way at 8:42 pm April 8 involving a drive-by shooting. The victim of the shooting, Terrence Travon Harris, was pronounced dead at OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital, Coontz said.

According to Mansfield Municipal Court records, the victim was transported to the hospital the driver of the vehicle, according to the court records.

"Terrence Travon Harris was the front-seat passenger of the vehicle that was shot into," according to the court record. The driver "was uncooperative with the police investigation at first and refused to say who the shooter was in the red Cadillac that was chasing him in his vehicle on West Fourth Street. Information developed throughout the investigation and it was believed that Deshawn Antonio Dowdell was the shooter but (the driver) would not cooperate in his identification as the shooter."

Later, the driver said he wanted to cooperate because of being pressured by the victim's family to do the right thing and being in fear that Deshawn would harm him. He told investigators he knew the shooter only as Deshawn, no last name, and his street name was "BOB," according to the document.

The driver "was shown a photo lineup and he picked out Deshawn Dowdell as the person that shot the victim Terrence Travon Harris," the court document stated. The driver provided a taped statement and said he was "100 percent sure that Deshawn was the shooter that he saw that night."

Dowdell was to be arraigned Wednesday but the arraignment did not take place, according to the court. Instead, Dowdell was considered for indictment.